Serendipity
by Aloja
Summary: Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, assigned to the most important case the Wizarding Society's Secret Intelligence Unit has ever received. What could possibly go wrong? Especially when one is in new territory...
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger quickly strode down the grey hallway as she desperately tried to place her unruly locks into a bun. She had hastily thrown on a red blouse with a pair of black trousers she had salvaged from underneath the mounds of dirty laundry she had yet to do.

The previous night, she had stayed up longer than she had intended trying to finish her thrilling novel. The blasted, yet beautifully written, book had compelled her to finish it, thus causing her to wake up late for her debriefing on her new assignment.

"Granger, you're late," Lloyd barked with a frown when her frazzled figure rounded the corner.

"I know, I am terribly sorry, I was caught up in an event last night." Hermione replied trying to keep her reason vague. She would have been mortified if her boss knew her genuine cause of tardiness.

"I expect better, now get inside."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort however her boss had already turned and left, leaving her to shamefully enter inside. Her body suddenly halted when her eyes drew upon the blond wispy hair of Draco Malfoy.

" _Malfoy?_ " her voice resonated inside the office.

He merely turned around before cocking his right eyebrow up, skimming his eyes over her. Hermione couldn't decipher the brief emotion that flitted through his eyes.

"What is she doing here Lloyd?" Malfoy asked, training his eyes on the man behind Hermione.

Hermione inhaled sharply, she despised that fact that he had ignored her as if she was not worth his time. He would never be worth her time, nor did she want to be worth _his_ time but she would not stand to ever be neglected by anyone.

"I am here for my debriefing Malfoy. I'm assuming your petty brief must be finished with Lloyd so please see yourself out." She gave him a smirk.

Malfoy's mouth opened to retort but was cut off by Lloyd.

"Actually, he hasn't missed his debriefing. We were waiting for you." Lloyd corrected.

" _What?"_ they both exclaimed.

"Yes. You are both assigned to the same mission. This case needs the best two operatives to ensure that it will be done with the best care."

Hermione blinked at Lloyd with disbelief before she started to argue how inappropriate and unacceptable this arrangement was.

"You know how much we hate each other, the results will be disastrous!" She exclaimed as her fist collided with the desk at such a preposterous idea.

"I hate to say this, but I agree with Granger, Lloyd. The outcomes will _not_ be desirable," Malfoy stated with no trace of disdain towards her, surprisingly.

There was silence for five seconds. Hermione was a little slack jawed at Malfoy's comment. Malfoy was Malfoy and a Malfoy who was even remotely civil to her was a foreign concept. After the war, Harry had testified on Malfoy's behalf which left the blond with a chance to salvage what was left of the Malfoys' reputation. And indeed he and his mother had mended those broken pieces well enough to have the public sing praises on the charity work and changed mentality the Malfoy's had implemented. But as much of a changed man Malfoy had become, Hermione had had very minimal contact with him and she couldn't help but put on a defensive front. That's what she had done for majority of her school life when he chose to make an appearance and shutting down her instinctive response would prove difficult.

"I know the past between the two of you, but should I remind you that you are both adults now and are expected to act professionally." Lloyd concluded, handing out the mission brief to both of them which effectively ended the argument.

Malfoy intensely stared at Lloyd, as if having an unspoken debate with him. However one look from Lloyd halted his stare and he grudgingly began to flip through the pages.

Hermione reluctantly sat down in the chair beside him. After realizing there was no winning against Lloyd, she too began to skim the first page until a choking sound interrupted her.

"There is no way in hell I will work with her." Malfoy stated in a deadpan voice.

Hermione sent him a glare as she began to form her retort which was sadly cutoff by Lloyd.

"You don't have a choice Malfoy and neither do you Granger," Lloyd concluded firmly with a hint of annoyance in his voice now.

Hermione's brows furrowed together. She didn't understand Malfoy's abrupt comment...was there something in the brief that elicited such a reaction from him? She flipped through a few more pages before Lloyd disrupted her, and asked for her attention which she gave with a tinge of embarrassment for being caught out like that.

"Now, in short form, we recently discovered that the Severance was stolen from our classified location at the Britain Museum of Magical Arts and was smuggled to America. From what we were able to track, Gavin Malcolm was the last to be in possession of it. He is a wealthy man in Honolulu and I need you two to attend the Gala he is hosting in his Mansion since our research team last caught a trace of it there."

"Why would anyone want to steal _that?_ " Hermione blurted. It was quite absurd, why would you steal something that in the end caused human extinction?

"We have not gained enough information to form the reasons behind Malcolm's motives but right now, the most important task is to retrieve it from his possession, before it really does cause harm." Lloyd replied.

"He could have stolen the Severance to merely just create a threat." Malfoy voiced.

Hermione turned her head at his statement, secretly a little impressed at what he said. It was an extremely likely possibility and she would have praised whoever had thought of it. But not Malfoy.

"We are currently investigating that prospect and we will contact you about any relevant developments. Otherwise, the precise details are in the brief, both of you are dismissed."

Both of their mouths opened one last time to protest against him but their feeble attempts were cut off when Lloyd gave them the look and pointed towards his door.

Hermione loudly huffed before screeching her chair backwards and rushing out of the room to avoid any conversation with her new partner.

As she reached her own office, her logical part of her brain finally kicked back into motion and scolded her for her childish behavior towards Malfoy. In a partner mission, the first step was to talk out all the details before anything else and she had diminished that part.

 _He can read it himself,_ she decided.

Hermione plopped into her chair and cast open the folder with all the information she needed.

Her eyes flitted through the situation and with each sentence, her eyes widened. Who would be idiotic enough to steal such an old artifact, putting everyone and themselves in danger? Or a better question, how were they able to smuggle such a guarded artifact in the first place?

Her thoughts shuffled back to her adventures when she was young, knowing that the Ministry always had one too many loopholes in their high efforts of protecting such things as ancient as this.

She flipped to the last page that outlined her identity for the mission. Hermione felt herself almost choke.

Underneath her faux name, _Angelina Maxwell,_ she had a spouse, _David Maxwell..._

Not ever did Hermione think that she would have to be bound to such an incorrigible man, be it faux or not. With the amount of times she had seen him, which consisted of passing each other in the hallway on rare occasions or catching a glimpse of each other at social events, she did not know much about the new and improved Malfoy.

Hermione sighed deeply and was utterly terrified for a mission for the first time.

Anything could go wrong with Draco bloody Malfoy as her partner.


	2. Chapter 2

When she had first joined the Wizarding Society's Secret Intelligence Unit (or WSSIU for short), she was extremely surprised at the amount of tasks that were done without the usage of magic. She assumed that apparition would have been used to travel but instead the agency preferred to transport their operatives via muggle transportation which prevented others from knowing where someone might have been last. The common rule learned among the agents was to use magic as little as possible on missions.

So, the next time Hermione saw Malfoy was after they had both landed in Honolulu. Hermione was thankful for the fact that their seats on the flight were not near each other, for she wanted to spend as less time as possible with Malfoy.

Unfortunately for Hermione, whoever had prepared her tickets had miscalculated the amount of time she would have on the flight from London to Honolulu. It stated that it would be a fifteen hour flight and Hermione had planned her sleeping times accordingly. You would imagine her confusion when she was rudely awoken two hours earlier than she anticipated by the flight attendant who explained they had arrived.

"Nice hair, Granger," Malfoy voiced with a smirk when he saw her. Hermione could only glare at him as she was still in a hazy state of mind from her abrupt rousing. She knew her hair and her face most likely resembled a nightmare but it was not her fault that she was misinformed!

She walked passed him and waited to spot her evergreen luggage bag on the continuously turning conveyor belt. Once it finally came into view, she quickly secured the handle and tugged it off.

Soon she was out the door, hurrying for a taxi before she had to see Malfoy's face again. In her rational side of the brain, she knew her action in leaving him at just the mere start of the mission was quite stupid but she couldn't help but feel irritated with this entire pairing. And Malfoy's comment hadn't helped much in her choice of behaviour.

She had only just gotten out the address to the Hotel they were staying at before she saw a figure settle in beside her. With one glance at the white wispy hair, she knew it was Malfoy.

"What are you doing? Can't you take another cab?" Hermione hissed.

"Why would I do that? After all you're my _wife_."

Hermione's mouth was left gaping open before she shut it quickly. Her eyes narrowed into slits at his amusing smirk. _Of course_ he would leave no opportunity untouched to aggravate her. And her she sat, hoping that the small civility he had shown yesterday would last long enough for both of them to finish this assignment.

Hermione only harrumphed and decided to spend her time looking out the window for the rest of the ride. Soon, the scene of the airport vanished and in place, came large and tall buildings everywhere. Some were illuminated while others were dark. Some were transparent and some were opaque.  
But the one thing that Hermione found most fascinating was the height of the buildings. She had had two other missions in other parts of America that shared the feature of height in buildings but still, it never ceased to amaze her.

The large usage of mathematics and science needed to construct such tall buildings was astounding. Even without magic, humans created ways to defy doubts and sometimes even physics.

"Stop craning your neck Gr-... _Angelina,_ "

Hermione whipped around to see Malfoy staring at her with a raised eyebrow as if to say her behavior was unacceptable. Hermione frowned, then glared, then turned back to the window, craning her neck even more to look at the skyscrapers from the minimal view the window gave. She heard Malfoy mutter a few things under his breath.

Even with the beautiful view, she wanted this ride to be over soon.

When the Hotel finally came into view, Hermione was greatly relieved in the chance of having an actual good night sleep before their mission.

She had gotten out of the cab to grab her luggage from behind and was going to head straight in to check into her hotel room.

However, she hesitated and turned back to see Malfoy paying the cab driver. He had an _actual_ smile on his face as he seemed to share something humorous with driver. As soon as the driver was gone, he turned around to head in with the smile still plastered on his face but wilted when he spotted her staring at him with bug eyes.

"What do you want, Granger?" he asked with his usual mask of indifference.

Hermione snapped out of her shocked at his question.

"Oh...I was just going to say that we need to review the details of the brief since we didn't get a chance to...before,"  
Hermione internally groaned at her mistake. She had pointed out her fault when she had rushed off after the briefing, rather than staying behind and talking over details.

Malfoy only raised his eyebrow with a smirk, "Wonder why that happened. I'll give you twenty minutes and then I'm coming up to your room and we'll talk detail there."

He then walked past Hermione swiftly, leaving her even more stunned then before. His smile at the cab driver had thoroughly unsettled her. _Draco Malfoy_ had smiled at a _muggle_ no less. From their Hogwarts days, she didn't remember even once when she had seen anything other than a sneer from him.

But what surprised her even further was his change in tone. At one moment he was taunting her and the next, it was all business.

Hermione shook her head and rushed to get to her hotel room before Malfoy showed his face. _But,_ if he could manage talking business, then she could sure as hell too.

Hermione sighed as she finally got a chance of complete solitude. She was able to last through her and Malfoy's meeting and surprisingly actually create a game plan for what their goals were for the Masquerade Gala at Malcolm's Mansion which was being held tomorrow.

Now all she needed to do know was get a good night rest.

Hermione carefully outlined her lips in red before pressing them together to blend all the colors together. She briefly smiled, remembering her surprise when she arrived to one of her training sessions as an undercover agent. The room had been transformed into a salon that covered all the latest shampoos to the latest hair style trends. She recalled her difficulty with the makeup supply in the beginning of the session.

During Hogwarts, she had been surrounded by many who had dabbled and perfected the art of makeup but Hermione had much more important priorities at the time, makeup wouldn't have even been on her mind then. But nonetheless, she _was_ Hermione Granger and she worked hard in those sessions to learn the skill of using makeup to her advantage. And now she stood in front of the mirror, inspecting her face make up.

Her lips were colored a sultry red which complimented her dark mascara, eyeliner and golden eye shadow. She had decided to brush on a light pink blush to accentuate her high cheek bone as well.

She smiled, astounded by her own skill at making herself look quite beautiful if she did say so herself.

Hermione quickly slipped on her black heels which extended all the way to her knees, allowing her to strap on a pair of guns to each leg with a specially made pocket for her wand. She straightened herself out and checked her red satin ball gown for any mishaps. The strapless dress, beaded with silver sequins at the bust, seemed to cling on to the right curves before flowing into waves towards the floor.

Satisfied with her dress and makeup, Hermione quickly grabbed her black feathered mask off her night table and double checked her gun straps once more before strutting out of her hotel room.

She and Malfoy met in the hotel lobby, deciding it best that they arrive together at the Mansion since they _were_ supposed to behave like husband and wife.

That thought still made Hermione cringe, no matter the fact that it was just a false identity.

Once they were inside the limousine that had been ordered for them, Hermione tried settling in and relaxing before their mission _really_ began. She had unconsciously started to incessantly tap her finger against the sideboard on her side of the car, deep in thought about why Malcolm would steal the Severance.

"Would you quit that Granger?"

Hermione snapped out of her trance and barely turned towards Malfoy before finally, grudgingly, stopping.

"Angelina," she murmured.

"What?"

"My name's _Angelina,_ " she repeated.

Malfoy rolled his eyes before turning his head out towards the window. So far they had been able to remain somewhat civil, only since they had been silent the entire time. It seemed that once one of them spoke, they were back to throwing jabs at each other.

Hermione sighed and quietly decided to study Malfoy from her peripheral vision.

She had to admit it. Malfoy did look good in his black trousers and coat, finishing it off with the white dress shirt and black tie. His slightly long hair was tousled as if he had been mussing with it in frustration, however, it still suited him. Hermione felt a moment of jealousy wash over her, _he doesn't even need to try in looking good_ , she thought. On the other hand, she had taken almost an hour in only calming down her hair to resemble smooth curls rather than frizzy locks.

The limousine came to a stop. Hermione made a move to get out of the car except she was stopped by Malfoy.

"Wait here for a moment."

He got out of the car before Hermione could even ask why. Hermione, a little irritated by his actions, decided to get out of the car anyways. However, the door opened for her and Malfoy stood there with his hand reaching towards hers. He quickly grasped her hesitant hand with surprising gentleness as he pulled her out of the car.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked once she was out of the car and had left Malfoy's grasp. She felt the goose bumps slowly leaving her arms after she had pulled away from his touch.

"Just playing my part," he answered with a disinterested look.

The two kept walking on in silence after that as they reached the inside of Malcolm's vast Mansion.

"Remember the plan?" Hermione whispered.

"Of course I remember. I _am_ one of the best agents, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes and stepped inside to be greeted by the doorman who directed the two of them to the coat room once they gave their invitations.

Lloyd had included their invites in the brief with an explanation describing that Malcolm was told that the two of them were a recently married couple from two wealthy families who would be interested in his auction which was to occur tomorrow afternoon.

Once their coats were removed, the two of them made their way to where the entire Gala was taking place.

Hermione met Malfoy's eyes from behind his black and white mask that he had put on inside the coat room. He nodded slightly and left without letting Hermione indicate back. She huffed quietly at his rudeness but pushed it aside and moved her way through packs of people, trying to locate the perfect view of all the doors connected to the Grand Ballroom they currently were inside.

She almost made it to the buffet table but was stopped in her course due to a cluster of men blocking her way. She tried to find an opportunity to slip past them but none appeared until she saw a sliver of space between them and another group on her right. She quickly tapped the man, voicing a quick excuse me as she barely slipped past him.

"The truck will arrive at midnight. Don't be late."

Hermione's ears perked up at that sentence she had caught unconsciously. She stopped in her tracks and discretely turned towards her right where she heard the voice from but no one stood there. She furrowed her eyebrows, making sure she had heard correctly, and then stored the irrelevant information at the back of her mind.

Hermione finally ended up by the buffet table which laid out numerous dishes from small coconut covered shrimp appetizers to smooth and expensive chocolates. She mentally tallied the number of doors before letting her mind wander to the food lain out on the table. Out of curiosity, she indulged in one of the pieces of chocolate. Her eyes shut in delight; the piece was smooth and had quickly started to melt inside of her mouth, spreading the surface area of the sweetness.

"Evening Miss, I'm Howard, and you are?"

Hermione's eyes snapped open in surprise; the chocolate had truly captivated her for a few moments there. Her relaxed posture quickly stiffened when she realized the company she had attracted. A man in a navy blue suit with a silver and white mask stood in front of her.

"Forgive me, this chocolate is quite captivating- my names Angelina," she quickly replied after registering his question. Hermione internally scolded herself for losing focus on her task. She had never lacked focus before but here she stood doing exactly that, what was wrong with her? _It's probably because of Malfoy's presence, causes all of my sense to become muddled with anger only._

She realized that she had completely ignored what her new company had just said to her as she was too lost in her own thoughts.  
"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was only asking if you care for a dance?"

Feeling a little guilty for neglecting him before, Hermione thought to say yes, however, her mission was her priority so she kindly declined and turned away to prevent him from keeping her from her task any longer.

Hermione had only started to walk away before she felt a hand clasp her wrist. She turned back to see to see Howard grasping it tightly; she rose an eyebrow but doubted he could see it from behind her mask.

"What are you doing?"

"I _asked_ for a dance," he spoke.

"And I _kindly_ declined," Hermione gritted back. She absolutely despised these types of men and she could feel her hands itching to attack him but she couldn't give away her undercover status like that, so she had to find an alternative without any physical contact.

Hermione was only formulating her escape plan when somebody else suddenly sidled up next to her and placed a hand around her waist. She immediately straightened at the touch, however, as the cologne of the person passed her nose, she realized it was Malfoy.

"What are you doing?" Malfoy asked, repeating Hermione's question to the man who still held onto her wrist.

"I am only asking her for a dance."

"And I _declined._ " Hermione spoke with a hint of anger in her voice.

"When a gentlemen asks for a dance from a lady, she should oblige without any hesitation," he bit back.

Hermione was on the brink of hexing the man into oblivion, however she was cut off from anymore of those thoughts when Malfoy spoke.

"She is my wife and she will dance with me, not with obnoxious men like you,"

With that, Malfoy pulled her along and out of Howard's grasp and led her to the centre of the room where many couples were dancing. She was still recovering from the words that had left Malfoy's mouth. It was only part of their false identity and he had played his part, however, those words leaving Malfoy's mouth still seemed to stun her.

"What is your problem Granger? Can't focus for even a few minutes," Malfoy muttered once they were on the dance floor.

"What? _I_ wasn't the one who initiated the conversation! It was him and I was leaving already before you butted in," Hermione huffed out quietly as they continued to rigidly dance with each other.

"It doesn't matter. Have you counted all the doors?"

Hermione glared at him from behind her mask before answer, "Yes, there are three, one we came from and another two on opposite walls, which most likely means that this room is in the center of the Mansion. Did you activate the camera?"

He only nodded to her as they continued to dance. Naturally, he was a good dance partner and it progressively became a little easier to relax in his arms as they waited for the awfully long song to come to its end. In the mean while, Hermione's brain was going off its rocker over the very idea that she was dancing with _Draco Malfoy._ Everything to do with him was suppose to be ignorant, offensive and rude but here she was, _dancing_ with him in close quarters.

When the song finally ended, they both walked off the dance floor, already knowing where their next location was. They walked alongside each other as they discreetly left the lively party and entered the quieter halls.

They stood still for a few moments, checking for any guards or security walking around those halls before they started moving down a particular hallway. In their brief, they had been provided with a half finished floor plan of the Mansion. Hermione had become frustrated as to why it wasn't a finished floor plan until she realized a written note at the back of the paper stating that there was no up to date floor plan of the Mansion and that this one was the only one they were able to muster up from their data.

Hermione had studied and memorized the floor plan meticulously so to ensure that she was able to fit the missing pieces of the Mansion once they were there.

So far she had been able to place the Grand Ball Room into her mental image of the Mansion.

She and Malfoy had discussed in their meeting that they would go down to the basement to uncover any locations of where the Severance may be. Obviously they were only making assumptions as to where it might be but years of practice were advantageous in making intelligent postulations.

Once they reached the end of the hallway, they turned left and then stopped at the second door to right. Hermione quickly knelt down and pulled out a lock picker disguised as a bobby pin from her hair's up do. As an agent, they were trained much more like FBI or CIA agents with only the added benefit of having the ability to do magic. Thus it was necessary to learn such tricks, like picking locks, if they were ever to be placed in a muggle type situation.

"Don't know why Malcolm would place a lock when he could easily place a charm," Malfoy muttered.

Hermione looked up at him and shook her head. She hadn't the time to explain to Malfoy that that's what muggle witches and wizards did even though they had magic. It was like second nature to do things without magic at times. She chose to conclude that Malcolm must have placed the locks as a precaution to what must be ahead, which was most likely a series of charms.

Hermione stood up and quickly opened the door and backed away with anticipation of meeting something behind the door. Malfoy was just as tense as her when the door opened and nothing was there.

She met his eyes and tilted her head before walking in at a slow pace, trying to decipher any other traps if there were any and trying to pick up any hint of magic. Her hand was itching to take out her wand but she refrained.

Her and Malfoy moved down the dark hallway side by side as they kept their eyes on the walls and their surroundings. The dimly lit lights flickered continuously, irritating Hermione. She tried focusing on something else and realized her proximity with Malfoy. They were close, almost to the point that their arms were touching. Hermione felt the goosebumps run up her arm as his arm brushed against her bare one.

She was only about to move away before Malfoy spoke up, "Move over Granger. Your colossal dress is agitating against my leg."

"Calm down Malfoy," she sniped moving away, "why do you need to point out every single thing that's amiss with me? I have plenty of things that _you_ do that perturb _me._ But do you hear me complaining?"

He let out a scuff, "it's only due to your lack of proper manners as to how you should walk with a dress on is why I commented."

"My lack of _manners?_ I-"

"Hey!" a third voice screamed and Hermione and Malfoy froze.

The voice had come from around the corner they were seconds away from reaching. Hermione had already formulated a plan to move to the sides of the walls before the person turned the corner but she did not know their exact location.

She only had barely millisecond before the flashlight shown on both of them and Hermione did something she never imagined of. With her life as Hermione Granger, she ended up taking actions she never wanted to and doing things that were horrible and terrifying but never did she see coming what she did next.  
Hermione threw herself at Malfoy and pressed her lips to his neck, as if she were kissing it. Her left hand clutched his right shoulder as her other hand gripped his left forearm. She could feel his entire body stiffen into stone.

She let out a breath and felt Malfoy lose a little bit of tension in his body as he hesitantly placed his hands on her petite waist.

The flashlight's glare was on them now and Hermione slowly removed her face from his neck to turn and see two men holding guns at them. It was obvious they were muggles.

"What are you two doing here?" one of them asked, still clutching his gun.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! We only meant to find a secluded place..." she trailed off. She could feel the heat rising again in her body after that statement and for a second, she truly _felt_ his large masculine hands clasped at her waist. She felt the fire and sparks mingling there in a hot mess that seemed to slowly cloud her mind.

"It's alright, but you need to leave," the man spoke up, snapping Hermione out of her trance. She scolded herself for losing her focus again and looked back at the two men who had placed their guns back in their restraints.

"Wait," the other butted in suspiciously, "how did you get through? The door was locked."

Now was the time for action.

Hermione quickly ran forward as she struck one of them straight in the nose. He had no time to react before he fell to the floor. Hermione turned around to see Malfoy done with the other man as well.

They could have magicked the two guards to sleep until they had finished their speculation but they did not have enough of an assessment on the two men to know their reflexes in throwing their guns back up before their wands ( even if her and Malfoy were likely to be faster). It was better to be safe than sorry.

They moved the bodies to one side and continued their turn around the corner, not speaking once (thankfully because Hermione did not want to explain her actions of why she did what she did when she _could_ have done something else).

Hermione stopped short, feeling something that was giving off a faint trail of magic.

"It's some sort of magical wall." Malfoy muttered.

"I've crossed one of these before. It only lets those without any magic to cross."

"That's perfect. We're magical _beings,_ "

"There is a loop hole. If we remove all magical items, we can get through despite the fact we have magic coursing through our body. The spell hasn't been modified to prevent us from walking through."

Hermione efficiently pulled up her dress, revealing her smooth and bare legs. She quickly took out her wand that she had stowed away and removed the mask she had magicked on. The mask appeared to be placed on with the strings tied at the back of her head but as a precaution, she had also magicked it to prevent any difficulty.

She watched as Malfoy also removed his mask and wand and placed them off to one side. Hermione magicked a glamour which hid their masks and wand.

They both looked at each other before moving through the transparent wall.

On the other side, they found a door and it seemed to be locked. Hermione quickly picked the lock again and it surprisingly opened. She was perplexed at not having a little more of a challenge. Shaking off her surprise yet still being aware, Hermione peered inside.

They moved into the room to be met with emptiness besides a mahogany chest resting in the middle of the room. Hermione had the urge to take the chest now but knew they couldn't.

They were only here to inspect what they would have to go through and to place small cameras within the room for any activity between the period of them leaving and coming back to the mansion.

The garage on the opposite side of the wall did not go unnoticed by Hermione. She noted that this opening would be the easiest route they could take in retrieving the chest later tonight.

She and Malfoy effectively placed in two minuscule camera's before leaving the room and locking it back as it was. They headed around the corner, obliviated the two men's memory and then healed their wounds from their knockouts.

The two of them quietly left through the door and re-entered the party to formally meet Malcolm before they retired for the night.

However, something didn't sit right with Hermione. Their breach of the Severance's location had been easier than she had expected. She briefly shared this thought with Malfoy who didn't deny that it seemed off. However, she did not know what to do with her gut feeling and simply decided to wait until their action plan would play out later.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione quickly strapped the seat belt on the passenger side of the black car. Malfoy had already put the car in drive and was speeding down the road. For once, Hermione wasn't surprise at the fact that Malfoy was doing something so un-Malfoy like. She knew in their training that learning to drive a car is a must.

The drive was quiet and filled with tension. Hermione hadn't gotten any sleep last night all due to one blonde sitting right beside her. Every time she had shut her eyes, her imagination led her to her and Malfoy, kissing and touching each other in sinful ways. She would bury her face into his warm neck, kissing it slowly as she trailed up towards his sharp jawline and slowly towards his lips. Those beautiful pink lips.

"Did you remember to leave your wand?" Malfoy asked, breaking her fantasy of the two of them together. They had agreed to not bring their wands since they were not positive on how far the magical wall extended in Malcolm's Mansion and it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Huh? Yes," she answered tersely. At the voice of the real Malfoy speaking, she berated herself for such thoughts. It was _Malfoy_. The person who intentionally irritated her at every opportunity. And besides, he would never actually think of her that way. She was Granger to him, the swotty know-it-all who hated him to his bones for his actions towards her during their school years.

Her thoughts were disrupted when they finally reached their location and parked the car behind a number of trees. The walk to the Mansion would only be five minutes long. They would have to walk alongside the road for a few and then the road would open up to a large circular pathway that sat in front of the mansion.

As the two of them checked that they had their weapons, her's being two pistols and a tactical knife, alongside other minor equipment for their break in, they were set to go.

Hermione realized something once they started walking. The tension in the car had been sexual tension. Or at least one-sided sexual tension.

 _Really Hermione? Out of all times possible, now you feel sexually roused? And because of Malfoy, of_ all _people!?_

To top it all off, she wasn't sure if she should bring up her actions from last night. Maybe if they both ignored it and never spoke of it, then they would forget and all this awkward tension would dissipate.

Hermione didn't get the chance to say anything at all since the Mansion had come into view and Malfoy had turned around to speak to her.

"I checked the footage from the cameras before our walk and there has been no activity. Unless something has occurred between then and now, which I doubt."

Hermione nodded her head and quickly turned her brain over to the mission, the biggest priority she had at the moment. It made her recent complicated thoughts about Malfoy seem puny and insignificant to think about.

They had decided to enter the Mansions perimeter from behind, where the garage door to the artifact would most likely be present.

The wall around Malcolm's Mansion was not grand by any means, however, the invisible security set up was noted by both of them and thus they had brought the appropriate equipment to dismantle the sensors.

Hermione stood guard as Malfoy skillfully used the dismantling gadget to connect with the sensors and turn it off. She couldn't help but feel a little at awe over the fact of seeing Draco Malfoy using muggle technology. She had been surprised when he had even _joined_ WSSIU! He had joined a little later than she but as an operative who was usually sent for single assignments, she had never imagined herself being paired up with Malfoy for such a critical assignment. Their history together just doesn't allow her and him to actually accomplish anything good. However, her own logic was proven wrong since here they were, so far successfully retrieving a deadly artifact. As long as they talked business, they were able to get things done.

But with the new development of getting in close proximity with Malfoy had done a number on her enhanced sexual needs.

"Done." Malfoy murmured.

Hermione had already checked the number of guards that passed by this sections of the Mansion. There were three and they came in three minute intervals. She told all of this to Malfoy. After the guard passed, her and Malfoy pitched themselves over the rock wall, landing on their feet on the other side.

Her and Malfoy sprinted across the small tract of evenly cut grass as quietly as possible and reached the back of the Mansion in less than three minutes. The ground dipped below the surface of the house and that was where the garage was located. Both of them shuffled closer until the large door was in sight. Oddly, there were now guards present. Hermione had been anticipating at least two guards that they would need to take down.

She exchanged a look with Malfoy before they reassessed their surroundings and jumped down. Hermione immediately began to feel the garage door in order to find the lock mechanism. She came across nothing and decided that the door must be old fashion. Instead, she used a tool that slipped between the door and floor and with a swift pull, the door unhinged slightly. Hermione smiled at her small victory despite the foreboding feeling taking residence in her stomach. This all felt too easy. As if it were a trap.

"Malfoy, lift the door up fully, will you?" she whispered as she applied pressure to her metal tool in order to keep the space between the door and floor open.

She saw a resentful face pass his features, as if taking orders from her were beneath him but he quickly came over and hefted the door up, revealing the room inside.

Hermione felt herself blanch as she peered inside. The chest was no longer in the middle of the room. It was gone.

Suddenly, there was the sound of an engine roaring to life from the front of the Mansion.


End file.
